


Sometimes the truth isn't what it seems to be

by losing_myself_inbooks



Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Whump, i can't tag more without spoiling anything, i literally cried at some parts while writing this, i needed to do something about the whole kovac hunting thing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:08:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27655262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/losing_myself_inbooks/pseuds/losing_myself_inbooks
Summary: Riley felt like her whole word fell apart around her. It felt like her heart stopped beating and her lungs stopped breathing. All she could hear was this strange deafening sound in her ears. She forgot how tired she was, she forgot everything. Except for these dammned three words Matty had just spoken.
Relationships: Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Jack Dalton (MacGyver TV 2016) & Riley Davis, Jack Dalton/Diane Davis (MacGyver TV 2016), Riley Davis/Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 93





	1. I can't do this, I just can't

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set after the season 4 finale, but Desi and Mac broke up after the whole Codex situation.  
> Also, I cried at some parts while writing this, so be prepared.  
> And, english isn't my mother tongue and this is the first time I wrote an english fan fic, so sorry for any mistakes.

It was three in the morning when Matty had called the whole team into the war room for an emergency.

They were all wearing their sleep clothes. Desi still had her sleeping mask around her neck and Bozer was still wearing his slippers that looked like little fluffy minions. Riley’s hair stuck of her head in all directions, and she was wearing Mac’s leather jacket. Mac’s hair was also a mess, and he wore his T-shirt backwards.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Bozer asked in a tired voice, “Why? Just why? It’s literally 3am. We went home 4 hours ago”

“I got a call,” Matty replied with an almost unnoticeable tremor in her voice. 

But the team heard it anyway and immediately sat up straighter, preparing themselves for bad news.

“From the task force, that hunts Tiberius Kovac”, she added in a low voice.

Mac and Riley immediately jumped to their feet, while it took Bozer and Desi a while to see the connection.

“Is Jack okay?”, Riley asked with unmistakable fear in her voice.

Matty took a deep breath and slowly turned to her agents.

“Mac, Riley… they called me to tell me…that…that there was an explosion…And- They weren’t able save him. Jack died on the way to the hospital”, the usually so tough woman, looked like she was on the edge of tears.

The whole room fell silent instantly, maybe they even stopped breathing. The team just stared at her in disbelief, unable to say a word.

It took only a few seconds until the realization hit them.

Desi’s usual rock-hard masquerade shattered and she collapsed on the couch as silent tears rolled down her cheeks.

Bozer felt as if he’d been hit in the stomach with a baseball bat with full force as he slowly sat down next to Desi.

Mac didn’t feel anything. Not the slightest emotion. He was completely empty and numb. He didn’t allow himself to feel anything, because all his worries and concern were for the person next to him. 

Riley had brought her hands to her mouth as she slowly sank to the ground, while sobs shook her whole body.

In Riley’s sobbing was the sound of a heart breaking.

Her heart burst into thousands of pieces and her chest tightened painfully, making it hard for her to breathe.

She felt as if the ground had been pulled from under her feet, as if she was falling into endless depth.

She didn’t notice how Mac sat down next to her on the floor and pulled her to his chest. Without realizing it, she gripped the fabric of his shirt as her tears soaked it.

Carefully, Mac pulled her closer and stroked over her hair repeatedly. A sign that he was there for her and always would be.

A few minutes, which felt like hours, passed while the two of them just sat there. Matty, Bozer and Desi left soon, but neither of them noticed.

After around half an hour passed, Mac tapped Riley carefully at the shoulder, whereupon she sat up sniffing. “I think we should go home”, he said.

Riley just nodded softly and let Mac pull her onto her feet. 

Her knees threatened to buckle under her and Mac quickly put an arm around her shoulder to steady her.

Without protesting, Riley let him guide her out the door.

Outside the door, a picture of grief and sadness awaited them. There were small groups of people standing everywhere, speaking softly and comforting each other.

It wasn’t really surprising. Jack was a person who was liked by everyone. Even though he could be a bit annoying and difficult sometimes, he had a good heart and was always ready to help others. His death was a shock to everybody who worked at the Phoenix.

As soon as they saw Mac and Riley, the conversations suddenly stopped and everyone turned in their direction.

Riley uncomfortably tugged at the zipper of the leather jacket and brushed her hair in front of her face so that it was hardly visible.

Mac, who felt how uncomfortable she was, gently but steadily pulled her on, without paying any attention to the other people.

Once they had left the building, sat in Mac’s car and left all those curious and pitiful looks behind them, Riley breathed a sigh of relief before sliding deeper into her car seat.

Mac just started the car without a saying a word, knowing that talking was the last thing Riley wanted to do at the moment.

 **°°°°°**  
About two hours later, Riley was finally asleep. She laid, curled up in a ball, on the couch, as Mac carefully laid a blanket over her, before he slowly sat down next to her.

The numbness had slowly passed and Mac, just now, actually realized what happened. Jack was dead. He was actually dead.

The world turned into a blur, and so did all the sounds, Riley’s quiet and steady breathing, the constant sound of the traffic and the ticking of the clock. Everything was gone.

He paused, trying to hold back the strange feeling rumbling inside of him, but he couldn’t. A lone tear traced down his cheek and just like that, the floodgates opened. So many tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down his face.

His chin trembled as if he was a small child. He breathed heavier than he ever had before. He was gasping for air that simply wasn’t there. His throat burned from a silent scream. It felt like a part of him was dying inside of him.

He just couldn’t bear the fact that Jack had left him, too. Just like his father did. And his mother.

He felt the same feeling he had felt when his mother died. As if he was all alone. Even though he knew he wasn’t. He had Riley. And Bozer and Matty. And maybe even Russ and Desi, although they hadn’t known Jack at all or not as well as the others did.

He tried his best to stay quiet, but after a loud sob escaped his lips, which made Riley grumble softly and turn onto her other side, he pulled himself up and stumbled past her out onto the balcony.

He slowly sat next to the fireplace, which, of course, wasn’t lightened. It was completely dark around him, except for the city lights, a few miles south.

Memories of him and Jack sitting here after a more or less successful mission, enjoying a beer or two, came to his mind. Which just made him feel even more miserable than before. 

He realized he would never hear his voice again. He would never hear one of his stupid puns again.

He would never hear his complaining when they, were in a seemingly hopeless situation again.

He would never hear his reassuring words again, when he had failed to save everyone.

Never ever again.

And all because he wasn’t there. If he would have been, he would have been able to disable the bomb and save Jack and his team. But he wasn’t. It was his fault, that Jack wasn’t here anymore. And only his fault.

**°°°°°**

A few hours later, he was woken up by the ringing of the doorbell. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around him. He laid in his bed, although he had absolutely no idea when and how he got here.

The events of the night before crashed down on him like a huge wave, and Mac had to gather all his strength to fold back the blanket and get out of the bed.

He noticed he still wore the same as yesterday, but didn’t really care to put on a new shirt.

He walked down the hallway as quietly as possible, trying to not wake up Riley if she was still asleep.

When he finally opened the door, he looked into two soft brown eyes, framed by wild, blonde locks.

“Ms. Davis”, he greeted Riley’s mother, not sure how to react.

“Good morning, MacGyver”, she answered and softly smiled at him, even though it was obvious she cried a lot in the past few hours. Her eyes were red and puffy, and she looked like she desperately needed some sleep.

“I am so sorry”, Mac murmured and, once again, had to fight back tears.

“Oh, thank you. Even though, it’s me who has to be sorry, I know how much Jack meant to you”, Diane answered and sympathetically patted his shoulder.

Mac just nodded and then, as Ms. Davis opened her mouth to say something, added, “She’s sleeping on the couch. She fell asleep there last night”

Diane smiled and softly said, “Thanks”, as she stepped into the house and went to the living room.

Mac didn’t follow her, he wanted to give them some privacy, instead he went into the kitchen to make some coffee and maybe some pancakes, the only thing he was able to cook without burning down the whole house.

However, he still overheard most of the things said in the living room.

First, some soft whispering from Diane to wake up her daughter.

Then some more whispering from both of them.

Then harrowing sobs and crying.

Mac’s heart tightened painfully.

He had seen and heard others cry like that and in every case, it was a transition from a person with hope to one without. It was how Bozer cried when he lost his little brother; it was how he himself cried the day his mother passed away. It’s a kind of crying that shows the child underneath, that the hurt has cut right back through the protective layers acquired in maturity.

And that’s exactly how Riley felt, like a little child, not able to do anything against all the cruelties happening in the world.

Her mother woke her with a soft “Riley, wake up, it’s me”, just like she used to do it back when she was a kid and had to wake up for school.

It took Riley a few seconds to realize where she was, why she was here and what happened.

She slowly sat up as tears welled up in her eyes once again.

“He’s dead. Jack is dead, mom”, she whispered when her voice broke and tears started to stream down her face again.

Diane pulled her into her arms and gave her a hug that only a mother could give you. Warm and gentle, but still steady and comforting.

“I know, baby, I know. I’m so sorry”, she answered, now also crying.

Riley snuggled as close to her mother as she could and cried for what felt like hours, but were only a few minutes.

Diane gave her a kiss on the forehead, before she pulled away and wiped the tears from both of their cheeks.

“Thanks for coming here, mom”, Riley mumbled and looked at her with something that was probably supposed to be a smile.

“Of course. But I have to show something to you”, Diane answered and turned in the direction of the kitchen, “MacGyver? Could you please get me something from my car? A wooden box, it’s on the passenger seat”, she asked.

“Of course”, Mac answered and seconds later, you could hear the front door opening.

“What box?”, Riley asked as she looked at her mother with a puzzled look.

Diane just shrugged and said, “You will recognize it when you see it”.

A little later Mac came back with the box.

Riley froze as soon as she saw it.

It was just big enough that you couldn’t carry it in one hand anymore.

It was painted in a dark violet and was colorfully decorated. With butterflies, flowers, stars, glitter and strangely enough with some lines of computer code.

Mac put it on the couch table and looked at Diane, then at Riley, who still stared at it with wide eyes.

“Where…”, Riley’s voice died, and she started again, “Where did you find it?”

“Jack gave it to Matty before he went on that mission, you’re not allowed to tell me about. I went by her house, before I came here, to give it to you. He said he wants you to have it, if something happens to him”, Diane replied, “I have absolutely no idea what this is. I respect that, he would have told me if I was supposed to know. And that’s why I’m gonna drive back to my hotel now. I need a hot shower and some sleep anyway. I’ll see you later, is that okay Riley?”, she asked softly and knelt in front of her daughter to look her in the eye.

Riley nodded slowly and whispered a barely audible “Okay, bye”

Diane smiled at her and then made her way outside. In passing, she patted Mac’s shoulder, smiled at him once more and then disappeared through the front door.

“Okay… So I’m gonna make some pancakes, I’m in the kitchen if you need me”, Mac quietly said and turned around to leave Riley alone, if Diane wasn’t supposed to know why should he be?

But, to his surprise, Riley stopped him, “No… Please. Can you stay? I think I don’t want to do this alone, you know?”

Mac just nodded and turned to sit next to her on the couch.

“So what is it about this box?” he asked as soon as he was seated. Riley finally stopped staring at it and looked at Mac instead, “I made it when I was fourteen”.

Mac smiled a bit, “Well, that explains the computer code”.

Riley just nodded and took a deep breath before she continued, “Jack and I made it together, actually. One day he just came home with the box, it was empty and had the typical wood pattern. He said we should make a memory box, so we would remember all the good things once we’re old and gray”, she laughed at little at the memory, while Mac turned his look at the box, now finally realizing what this box meant to Riley.

“So I went and got some paint from the garage, dark purple was the only color we had. It was left over from when we repainted my room a few weeks earlier. Then we went out in the garden and painted it. It was a lot of fun and when we were done we looked like we had fallen in the paint pot ourselves”, Riley laughed again at the memory, and so did Mac at the imagination in his head.

“On the next day, when I came home from school, it finally dried. So we got mom’s acrylic paints and all the stickers we could find in our house and started to decorate it, without any pattern or a specific method. We just put all the stickers on it and painted a few flowers, butterflies and stars on it. But, as you can see, we both weren’t really gifted in arts and crafts. So we sprinkled like a ton of glitter on it, we were convinced that it looked better afterwards. And I wrote the computer code on it. I wrote it everywhere at that time, all my schoolbooks and notebooks were full of it. My teachers were hella annoyed because of it”, Mac laughed at the picture, while Riley picked up the box and placed it on her lap.

She carefully ran her finger over the uneven surface and took a deep breath before she continued telling the story.

“When it was done we started putting things we wanted to remember in it. Like stones, we found when we went to the beach or little prices we won at the fair. But we didn’t actually put a lot in it and after some time I totally forgot about it. Then, when I was sixteen, he left us. I went to search for the box; I wanted to throw it away. I was incredibly hurt and wanted to forget all the memories of him. But I couldn’t find it anywhere and after a while, I forgot about it again. Until today”, she ended with the story and wiped the recurring tears from her cheeks. 

Mac shifted a little closer to her to show her that he was there for her.

Riley took a last deep breath, before she slowly opened the box.

The first thing she saw was a simple white envelope with her name written on it. It was Jack’s pointy handwriting.

She carefully took it out of the box and opened it with her fingernail.

Mac looked in the other direction, to respect her privacy, but still kept his hand next to her, just in case she needed it.

She took the paper out of the envelope and slowly folded it open.

The border of the paper was framed with a subtle golden line, together with small, also golden, stars.

With her left hand she grabbed Mac’s before she started reading:

_Riley,  
I’m sitting in an ice-cold tent while writing this, we’re in Bulgaria right now. It’s freezing here, winter here is on a whole other level than the winter in America. Anyways, when you read this, I’m probably no longer alive. That’s a pity, ain’t it? I’m sorry for that.  
And I’m also sorry for leaving you again, even though I’ve promised you to never do that again. And believe me, if there was any other way, I would have chosen that one. But I couldn’t risk Kovac not only coming for me, but also for my family, if I didn’t go looking for him. It was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made to leave y’all behind.  
Please know, that I’ll love you forever, honey. And that I’m so incredibly proud of you. So proud of whom you became, an incredibly smart, beautiful and badass woman.  
I never had kids myself, but to me, you are my daughter, I don’t care what the biology says. And believe me when I say, you’re the best daughter any man could wish for.  
When I met Diane and you, it was the first time I felt like I had an actual family I had to care for. And I’m so sorry that I left you two. At the moment I thought I was doing the right thing. But I know now, that it was one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made and this means something when it comes from Jack Dalton’s mouth.  
I didn’t take much with me when I left, some pants and shirts. Normal stuff, you know. And a picture, a bracelet and a paper clip sculpture. The paper clip sculpture is from Mac, of course. It’s in the right inner pocket of my jacket. Could you please get it, when I’m home? I know that it would mean very much to Mac.  
The bracelet is the one you made for me, when you had that girly phase when you were 13, it lasted for like two weeks, before you threw out everything that wasn’t black. Even though the bracelet doesn’t fit me anymore, I always carry it with me.  
The last thing I took with me is an old polaroid picture of you and your mom. It shows you two sitting on your surfboards in the ocean. It’s the only picture I have of two, that don’t show your faces. It would have been too dangerous. If Kovac would have gotten it in his hands, he would have made his men coming for you. The bracelet is in the left outer pocket of my jacket. And the picture in the right pocket of my pants. Please get these things, too.  
I have to hurry now, we are packing up our things, because we have a new lead from Kovac, which leads us to Russia, more precisely to Moscow.  
There’s one more thing I want to tell you.  
Even though I’m gone when you read this, you aren’t alone. I’m telling you this, because you once told me, that you felt alone and as if there was nobody that loved you, when you were in prison.  
I don’t want you to ever feel like that again.  
Especially because you aren’t.  
There are so many amazing people around you, who love you.  
Mac, Bozer, Matty and I don’t know if Desi likes you, but you know what I mean.  
These people are the best humans I’ve ever met in my whole life. And I’m only okay with leaving you behind in this world, because I know that they will do everything they can to keep you safe and sound.  
By the way, I’m gonna send this letter to Matty, she keeps the box, in case you wonder how the letter got in the box.  
I really have to go now.  
I love you forever, sweetheart.  
Yours,  
Jack_

_(PS: I know you thought I forgot about this box, but as you can see, I didn’t. I actually put things in it until I left. Hasta la vista, kiddo)_

Moscow, the place he was killed. Which meant he wrote this letter only days before. Riley shakily breathed in and out; somehow, she managed to not start crying. Maybe her body was out of tears.

“Are you okay?” Mac asked, he knew it was a stupid question, she obliviously was not. Her face and the heart-broken look in her eyes made that very clear. She nodded anyway and cleared her throat, before she looked at him and asked: “Do you know when he…you know, when he is brought home?” “I don’t know. But I’m sure Matty will do anything to bring him home as soon as possible”, he answered. Riley just nodded, and took another deep breath. When she noticed his worried look, she said, with the same almost-smile she gave her mom a few minutes earlier “I’m fine, Mac. Really”. She carefully folded the letter and put it in the right pocket of her jeans. Mac quietly mumbled to himself, so Riley couldn’t hear him: “Yeah, sure. You’re just as fine as I am” 

She took another deep breath, before she looked at the inside of the box again. The next thing she saw was a little carton box, maybe about 7 inches long and 5 inches broad. On the lid, Jack wrote with his pointy writing ‘Polaroid’.

She wanted to open like it, like she _really_ wanted to. But even the thought of seeing these old pictures, of happier times, her hands stopped working. All of their happy smiles, Jack’s goofy faces, her mom looking happy and enjoying her life for the first time, and her, finally able to actually be a child. She knew she wouldn’t be able to bear seeing this, knowing that she would never see Jack smile again, never hear his laugh again or one of his stupid puns.

Riley dropped the box on the couch, like it was a hot potato. She jumped up and stuttered something about not being able to do this. Mac immediately jumped to his feet, gently grabbed her by her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. When she finally stopped the hysterical muttering, he pulled her into one of these hugs, he had reserved only for her. She wrapped her arms as tightly as possible around him and almost inaudible whispered “I can’t do this, Mac. I just can’t”

“I know, Riles, I know”, was his only response. He couldn’t either. 

__  
  



	2. This just doesn't feel right

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'm not too happy with this chapter, but I really had to update, so...  
> Sorry for the long wait, but school really stressed the hell out of me in the last few weeks.  
> Sorry for any mistakes, my mother tongue isn't English.  
> This chapter is really short, but it actually is only a filler and writing fillers is HARD!  
> 

The last week was anything but easy. The pain just didn’t lessen, if anything, it got worse over the time.

They knew that Jack wouldn’t have wanted them to suffer like this, but they still couldn’t do anything against it, no matter how hard they tried.

Riley silently looked at her reflection in her room-high mirror, her gaze wandering over her long, straightened hair, falling over her shoulders and down her back.

Over her “makeup”, that for once consisted only of waterproof mascara (and some concealer to cover up the dark circles under her eyes), she definitely didn’t need the mess eyeliner would cause if she wouldn’t be able hold back her tears.

Her gaze continued to wander over a simple silver necklace, adorned with a single white shimmering pearl.

Her eyes moved on to her black dress. It was simple and classy. The same dress her mother had once worn to the funeral of her own dad. Riley had told her a few days ago, that she just couldn’t bring herself to go shopping for a dress, but also didn’t want to wear the same one she had already worn to all the previous funerals, she had to attend over the last four years. Diane just nodded with an understanding smile.

The next day she came back with this dress “I wore it to your grandfather’s funeral many years ago. It doesn’t fit me anymore, so I thought I could give it to you. Only if you like it, of course” Riley had accepted it gratefully. The fact that Diane had worn it to her father’s funeral made it special in her eyes. After all, she would now be wearing it to the burial of a person who was her father in everything but blood. 

Riley took a last deep breath before she stepped out of her room and softly knocked on Mac’s door. He didn’t react. She tried a second time. Nothing. Worried that something had happened, she opened the door.

She found Mac sitting on his bed, his head resting in his hand as he silently stared at his feet.

“Hey, you okay?” she asked as she fully opened the door and stepped into his room. _Stupid question_.

Mac looked up at the sound of her voice and quickly wiped the tears from his eyes.

“Oh, Mac,” was all Riley said, before she sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him close to her. Mac leaned on her, his head against her shoulders and his arms slung around her waist. She gently pressed a kiss on his hair and held him as tight as possible. He did the same.

She had seen Mac cry before, when they had had a late night talk after his father had died or after Charlie’s death.

But for some unknown reason it felt different this time. It felt like she could literally hear his heart breaking, crumbling into thousands of little pieces. Riley’s own already shattered heart broke a little more at that thought.

She pulled him even closer, stroking through his hair and over his back. She knew that Jack meant just as much to him as he had meant to her. He had been more than his best friend or a (helicopter-) father figure. Jack had been more than neither she nor anybody else could ever put into words. 

They had sat there for quite a while, until his crying finally became quieter and he stopped shaking.

“Do you want to talk about it? We got some time left before mom gets here,” Riley asked, while still stroking his hair, knowing he wasn’t ready to let go of her yet.

It was silent for a few seconds, before he nodded against her shoulder and straightened up a bit, so he wouldn’t be mumbling against her dress.

Now with his chin on her shoulder, he slowly started talking, “This just doesn’t feel right. None of this. I mean, it never feels right when someone dies. But…I don’t know. I just always kinda felt like he would never die, like he was some immortal superhero or something.”

Riley smiled at that statement, “Yeah, totally get what you mean. No matter what happened, he would just appear out of nowhere and save all of our asses.”

“Yeah, well, except the times when he made it all worse. Keyword: antique armchair.”

Riley’s smile widened, “I remember that. ‘It’s a chair not art’,” she said, imitating Jack’s voice.

“Except that it was from the 18th century and one of the most expensive furniture and art pieces in the world.”

They smiled fondly at the memory, until Mac interrupted the silence and said, “You made us sit on the floor.”

Riley raised an eyebrow in confusion, “What?”

“Cage and you. You made us sit on the cold floor of the van, after we had to jump into the pool to escape from the guards.”

“Well, maybe because you two were soaking wet and the surveillance van is full of expensive technology we had to keep you away from.”

They laughed softly, before they got interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.

“Oh, looks like mom’s here,” Riley said as she patted Mac’s back one last time and then let go of him. Mac also sat up and stood up from his bed.

Riley quickly fixed her dress and Mac adjusted the tie of his uniform, before they made their way to the door.

Just as she was about to leave his room, he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

“Thank you,” he said with a small smile and a thankful look in his eyes.

“You have nothing to thank me for. I literally just sat there and talked,” Riley answered but also smiled at him.

“I know. But just you being here means a lot to me,” Mac answered, squeezing her shoulder before letting go.

**°°°°°°**

There were already quite a few people there, when they pulled up at the airport hangar, mostly people from the Phoenix. Which wasn’t surprising, Jack hadn’t really had a life outside the Phoenix. Actually, none of them had, to be honest.

Mac and Riley shared a reassuring look before they opened the car doors and got out.

“Are all of these people spies? I didn’t know they’re that many of you people,” Diane asked next to them.

“Some of them are. Many of them are working in the lab and not out in the field. And those guys over there,” Riley pointed at a small group of men in uniforms a few feet away from them, “are the other members of the former Delta Force, I’ve told you about them. And-“

“Diane? Riley?” a woman’s voice interrupted them and in the next moment, the owner of the voice stepped into their view.

She looked like she was around Diane’s age, maybe a few years older, her short dark hair shimmered in the sun, her face was full of laugh lines and she looked at them with friendly, dark brown eyes, which looked puffy and red though.

The three of them stared at her for a few seconds, until Diane and Riley’s faces looked like something dawned on them and smiles appeared on their faces.

Riley was the first one to act. With a small smile on her face, she called out, “Linda!” before she approached the woman. Mac just stared at them with confusion.

The stranger woman welcomed her with a tight hug.

Mac leaned over to Diane and quietly asked, “Who is she?”

“Linda. Jack’s sister”.

 _Oh. That Linda._ Although, Jack had talked about her quite a few times, for some reason his brain hadn’t been able to see the connection before.

In the meantime, Riley and Linda had let go of each other and Jack’s sisters now held the younger women at arms-length in front of her and looked at her.

“Oh, you’ve gotten so big, since the last time I saw you,” Linda said with a soft expression on her face.

“Yeah, well, it’s been more than 10 years. I’m not a child anymore,” Riley answered, smiling.

“Oh, yeah, I can see that. You look beautiful, kid,” Linda said with a fond smile, before she let go of Riley and instead turned into Diane’s direction.

“So, you two were close, right?” Mac asked as he walked over to her.

Riley just nodded, her previous smile already left her face again, “Yes. She basically adopted mom and me as her sister-in-law and niece as soon as she met us for the first time. We didn’t see her that often, because she was always travelling all around the world. She always brought something for me, though. Perfume from Paris, jewelry from China or a team jersey from an official Brazilian football team. Mom always used to say, that I accepted her in the family long before I even gave Jack a chance”

“So, she basically was the cool aunt”, Mac concluded as he looked over to Diane and Linda.

Before Riley was able to answer, Bozer, Matty, Desi and Russ, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere, interrupted them.

Desi was, like Mac, also wearing her uniform, while the other three were sporting all-black suits. 

“The plane lands in ten minutes, we should get ready”, Matty said with her typical professional tone, although it seemed like she had to suppress a slight tremble in it.

The rest of the team nodded in agreement.

Russ and Bozer went to gather the rest of the guests and Desi walked off to join the Delta Force members, who now lined up on the side of the hangar.

Mac gently squeezed her arm and gave a reassuring look; Riley returned it, before he followed Desi.

Matty and she stayed back, watching as all the people, it had to be at least 50, now gathered at the side of the hangar. Strictly lined up just like the soldiers behind them.

The previous chatter had stopped and everybody had turned silent. Waiting for the plane to arrive.

“We should also go”, Matty softly said, looking at Riley with a sad but sympathetic expression.

Riley nodded choppily, wanting to say something, but her voice died before she was able to.

Matty seemed to understand, without Riley actually having to say something.

In a completely atypical manner, she opened her arms and softly said, “Come here”.

Riley didn’t think twice about it, before she crouched down and wrapped her arms around the other woman.

Matty gently caressed her hair with one hand, while she patted her back with the other.

Riley definitely didn’t expect her to be this good of a hugger, but she indeed was. The usually cold and intimidating woman radiated such calm and warmth that Riley immediately felt a little better.

They stayed like that for a few moments, until Matty softly squeezed her one last time and then let go.

“We should really go now”, Matty said with a soft smile.

Riley nodded in agreement and followed her boss into the hangar.


End file.
